No Exit
by Deansgirl95
Summary: Rachel's done. She's had it working the bar with her mother. She can't ignore the need to hunt anymore and she can't think of anyone more suited to help her get back in the game than Dean. But he's been very standoffish with her lately and she know's he's hiding something. So she sends the Winchesters on a hunt she fully intends to work herself just to be close to Dean again.
1. Chapter 1

_**Authors note: **_

_**Ok, so the next full story that I wanted to integrate Rachel into was "No Exit" but I felt that the opening of "Simon Said" and the fact that Dean showed us that a girl was getting under his skin as he did in that episode was important so I added that all into the beginning of this story. **_

_**I know that I take a while to update sometimes so I didn't want you guys reading the first chapter and then waiting for the rest of "Simon Said" to unfold in the following chapters so I would like you all to know that this story is fully "No Exit" from the 2**__**nd**__** chapter on. **_

_**Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you all enjoy my 8**__**th**__** story in my series =) **_

Where the Hell was Sam already?

Dean had finished pumping the gas 15 minutes ago and was sitting in the driver's seat of the Impala waiting to Sam to come back from the bathroom. He assumed that Sam was doing more than peeing after 5 minutes so he gave his brother some time.

But at this point Sam had either fallen in or was in trouble so Dean left the warmth of the car and headed toward the small stone building to the right of the gas stations mini mart.

He'd seen Sam enter it and didn't see him come out so He didn't even bother knocking when he reached the door. He turned the knob and found that it was unlocked.

"Sam, come on, zip it up. Let's hit the... road. What?" Dean said as he opened the door.

He'd expected to find Sam sitting on the toilet with his jeans around his ankles. Instead Sam was leaning over the sink, he was blinking water out of his eyes and breathing heavily, his face contorted by what Dean could only guess was pain.

"Sam?" Dean asked, his voice changing from annoyance to concern.

"I just had another vision, Dean." Sam said breathlessly.

Dean's stomach bottomed out at the words.

Sam was stubborn when he wanted to be and right now, he wanted to be. It was early evening as they drove through the farm land of northern Nebraska towards Hastings.

Toward the road house.

Toward Rachel.

"I don't know, man, why don't we just chill out, think about this." Dean argued.

Sam leaned over and turned the radio off. Annoyed himself now at the fact that Dean had been trying to talk him out of going to Hastings to seek Ash's help since they'd left the gas station where Sam had had the vision of a man shooting another in a gun store.

"What's there to think about?" Sam asked.

"I just don't know if going to the Roadhouse is the smartest idea." Dean said.

"Dean, it's another premonition. I know it. This is gonna happen, and Ash can tell us where." Sam argued.

"Yeah, man, but..." Dean started. _But Rachel'll be there and I'm trying very hard not be around her.  
_ He didn't say thing out loud of course. Sam didn't need to know that since they'd left the road house about a month ago he'd come to the conclusion that being around Rachel wasn't a good idea for more reason than one.

The first of course being that he'd spilled his guts to her about everything that had happened with his father. On the way back to Bobby's after they'd left that morning he'd asked himself in the car over and over again why he'd done that.

He'd chalked it up to the fact that it had been eating him inside and he'd needed to let it go or it would have made him burst at the seams.

But he knew in the back of his head it was because he felt that he could trust Rachel and that she was in fact, getting under his skin in a way that no one before or since Cassie had.

He couldn't allow that to happen, couldn't get that close to someone again. She'd made no demands on him what so ever, not even after they'd made love in her tree house the night before and for that he was thankful. But he couldn't and didn't want to let her in much as he had again. No matter how wonderful she might be. He just didn't have it in him and wasn't cut out to be tied to a person like that.

So having thought that, he'd decided that it was best not to see her again for a while. Let his head clear and figure out this whole demon and Sam thing first.

And second was the fact that Sam was now having super mondo creepy "visions" NO ONE could know about them. Not even Rachel if he wanted to keep Sam safe and apparently he couldn't trust himself to keep his mouth shut when it came to her.

He'd spoken to her a few times over the month since he'd seen her. And it was always pleasant and flowing when he did. But he kept the conversation down to her living vicariously through him while he hunted. She was burning up in that bar, he could tell and even feel it through the phone so they'd had much to discuss that was within Dean's comfort zone. But now Sam had him pointed in her direction and he was a dumb enough asshole to go along with it.

He could have told Sam no and that would have been it. Put in a phone call to Ash instead of a visit but as much as his brain wanted to stay away from the roadhouse is as much as his soul wanted him to be there.

To see her face with her beautiful green eyes framed by long dark lashes. See that long black hair of hers swinging down her back in a pony tail as she worked the bar in her jeans that hugged her hips just right.

I really am controlled by my dick, aren't I? Dean asked himself.

"Plus it could have some connection with the demon. My visions always do." Sam argued, pulling him from his thoughts.

Dean took the opportunity to go back the BIGGEST reason he didn't want to go to the roadhouse right now. Rachel might have been a driving force to keep his distance under normal circumstances but keeping his brother safe was a bigger reason to stay away.

"That's my point." Dean said vehemently, "There's gonna be hunters there, I don't know if going in and announcing that you're some supernatural freak with a demonic connection is the best thing, okay?"

Sam looked at him pointedly. His eyes almost hurt.

"So I'm a freak now?"

_SHIT! I didn't just fucking say that did I? _Dean asked himself. He quickly put on a smile and slapped his little brother on his thigh.

"You've always been a freak."

Sam looked away, scolded but not angry. Dean drove and remained silent. Sam was right. The best thing to do was go see if Ash had any leads and if these visions were connected to the demon.

He made a promise to himself that when he saw Rachel he wouldn't get close. He'd keep her at arms lenghth and if she was as awesome as she'd been up to this point she'd understand why.

Rachel shut one of her eyes and looked at the red target through the crosshairs of the rifle she held. She felt the butt flush against her shoulder, the pump firmly under hand and the trigger solid under her finger. All comforting feelings and she felt the confidence well up inside her as she exhaled and took the shot.

The virtual bullet hit the center of the target on the video screen and Rachel quickly moved the barrel up and to the right to line up the next shot. Four targets, all hit dead center in quick succession after that and Rachel heard the agonized groan of the older man standing next to her facing the video game.

"Damn, little lady, that was my room money." He said as Rachel lowered the gun back into its holster and held her hand out for her winnings.

He handed her the five twenty dollar bills and she gave him her best smile.

"Well, I guess you're taking a truck nap tonight." She said as she walked away, pleased with herself and $100.00 richer.

She moved behind the bar to pop open the 2 bottles of bud the men sitting at the 2 top by the door had ordered before she'd made her money and was still in ear shot when she saw her mother walked up to the still pitiful looking patron by the range game.

"Oughta check the high scores before you put your money down." Ellen said in her southern drawl.  
Rachel saw her press the menu button that would bring up the credits and display row after row of the top fifteen scores. Every one bore Rachel's name.

"You went and got yourself hustled, Ed." Ellen said before walking away with a slightly proud smirk.

Ed just stared and shook his head at the screen. Rachel took in the moment and was actually happy to be in the bar right then.

She put the beers on a tray and went to deliver them. Here no one thought an almost petite brunette had the skills to shoot a gun, real or virtual so she'd made a tiny fortune on the macho idiots that came and took the challenge.

As of late it had been one of the only things that been helping her keep the itch to get out of here in check. She ached to hold a real rifle again. A rifle full of salt and aim it at some nasties head or drive her now neglected Mustang through a cemetery at night looking a grave to salt and burn.

The job was calling her back and she was resisting it for the sake of her mother. Things like hustling _"Target Practice"_ had become one of the few things that helped her tolerate the need to get Hell out of here.

She delivered the beers and turned back around to clear off one of the recently vacated tables toward the back when she saw the door open.

She caught her breath as first Sam and then Dean Winchester walked through it. Her belly did a little flip at the sight of Dean. Tall and handsome as ever in his jeans, boots and that old leather jacket of his.

His eyes caught hers and she turned toward them in greeting. Reminding herself not to act like a little girl that had a crush, which is what she felt like right at this moment with his unexpected arrival.

"Hey, wasn't expecting you guys. Just can't stay away, huh?" She asked.

"Yeah, looks like." Dean said. She saw something cross his eyes when he looked at her and it wasn't the normal drinking in of her that came with their reunions. It was distant almost. And his facial expression followed the shadow in his eyes, he looked away from her almost immediately. "How are you Rachel?" he asked.

Rachel began to frown but before she could answer him Sam came around to stand before her.

"Where's Ash?" He asked, a note of desperation in his voice.

"In his back room." Rachel answered him. Without another word he brushed passed her and headed toward the back of the bar.

"Hey to you too, Sam." She said to the younger Winchesters retreating back. She then turned back to Dean and nudged her thumb at Sam.

"What's with him?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Sorry, he's, we're... kind of on a bit of a timetable." He answered and gave her that look again.

They stood looking at each other in silence for a moment. For the first time ever Rachel felt almost uncomfortable in his presence. She knew he felt the same so her natural instinct was to give him the leave she knew he was hoping for.

"Well, don't let me keep you then." She said and moved out of his way.

He gave her an awkward nod of thanks and moved to the back of the bar where Sam was knocking on Ash's door.

She stared at his back for a moment and wondered what the fuck that was all about.

Rachel kept her distance after that. It was clear that he wanted to be left alone so she left him alone. She just wished she knew if was her or the situation they were in that had him acting like this. She'd spoken to him on the phone every now and then since the last time they saw each other and everything seemed fine.

She glanced over to the table where they sat with Ash and his laptop every now and then but tried for the most part not to get too close. The bar was closing up soon so she had a lot to do as patrons left two and three at a time.

She also fought down the very female feelings that threatened to overtake her regarding Dean. She wasn't going to be a typical chick right now so she threw out every hurt and rejected feeling and thought that came to her and tended to her work.

At one point she had to go and clear off a table that was close to them. Right behind the pillar that Dean was leaning against as he listened to Ash and Sam talk. He even gave her a little glace but looked away quickly.

She ignored it and mopped up the spilled beer but in the process she couldn't help over hear a bit of the conversation going on.

"No, sir, nothing. No demon." Ash said as he finished typing something on the lap top.

"All right, try something else for me." Sam said leaning forward in his chair. "Search Guthrie for a house fire. It would be 1983, fire's origin would be a baby's nursery, night of the kid's six month birthday."

Rachel frowned. That was a very specific request and it instantly sounded familiar to her.

"Okay, now that is just weird, man. Why the hell would I be looking for that?" Ash asked, probably just as confused as she was.

It was when Dean looked in her direction and shifted uncomfortably at her proximity that she left without looking at him. This was obviously something he didn't want people, not even her, hearing.

Ash retreated to his room with his laptop. Probably working on looking for the bizarre scenario Sam had set to him.

The bar emptied slowly till there was just Sam sitting alone at a table near the back going through what she recognized as his father's journal, a middle aged couple finishing off the last of a pitcher of pale ale by the pool table, old man Peterson sitting on his stool at one end of the bar and Dean sitting on the other end nursing a beer her mother had poured for him.

She decided that she wasn't going to be upset with him for treating her like she didn't exist tonight. She'd won the battle that her female brain tried to rage against him saying that she deserved to be treated better since she'd let him have certain 'liberties' and that his behavior meant that she'd been used.

Her gut told her that his distance wasn't about rejecting her that way because he was afraid she'd get the wrong idea but more so because he didn't want to get close and that he had a lot on his plate right now.

She prided herself on not letting her emotions get the better of her and listening to reason and logic instead of getting huffy. Maybe she'd been a dude in a past life.

She still stayed away from him though. He looked up at her as she cleaned the tables or brought a drink to someone every now and then but he always looked away from her when she looked in his direction.

Whatever the reason, it was hard for him to be around her right now. And with the bar all but empty she decided that some music might be needed. She could pretend to listen to it as she worked and it would be less awkward with it in the air instead of just dead silence.

But just because she was in the mood, she picked a song that she knew would annoy him just a little. So she made her selection hit the button and the first cords of "I Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon filled the air.

Rachel turned to grab a rag from the bar and caught Dean's eye for the first time since he walked through the door. He looked at her inquisitively as the words of the song floated around them.

"What?" She asked.

"REO Speedwagon?" He asked with an almost amused frown.

She found that she was happy he'd lightened up a bit so she decided to play along and pretended to be a bit insulted.

"Damn right REO. Kevin Cronin sings it from the heart." She shot.

He smiled at her and she found that she was happy to see it.

"He sings it from the hair. There's a difference." He said and took a drink of his beer.

"That profile you've got Ash looking for?" She said it before she could stop herself. She been pondering it since she overheard Sam ask Ash to look into and it finally hit her where she'd known it from. "Your mom died the same way, a fire in Sam's nursery. Why are you looking for someone else the same thing happened to?"

"Look, Rachel, you're the one that told me that this is something that me and my family alone need to take care of. Remember?" He asked.

She remembered. The morning after they'd first spent the night together he'd asked her to join the hunt with him, Sam and their father. She'd told him no because it was too personal to them and that she'd only get in the way.

"I know but you're a man down and I could help." She said.

"I'm sure you could. But you were right, we've got to handle this one ourselves." She sensed there was more to it than that but she remained silent and he continued. "Besides, if I ran off with you I think your mother might kill me."

Rachel glanced behind her and saw her mother cleaning some glasses behind the bar and sending a determined look in their direction. Dean smiled nervously at her.

"You're afraid of my mother?" Rachel asked him.

"I think so." He said still smiling.

Just then Sam came rushing up behind her and spoke to his brother in a rushed tone.

"We have a match. We've gotta go." Sam breathed.

"All right." Dean said rising. He looked at her the way she was used to just then as he pulled on his jacket.

"I'll see you Rach." He said quietly.

"Be careful, ok?" She said in a hushed tone of her own.

Their eyes locked for another moment and then he was heading out the door. She sat there and listened over the chorus of REO's ballad as the Impala gunned to life and then faded as Dean drove it away.

She found that for more reasons than her just being restless and wanting out of servitude in this bar that she was in that car with him.

Dean couldn't get the song out of his head. Her face was all he could see in his brain as he began to hum the melody at first. The more he sang the more he realized that she was now connected to that song in his head.

The thought brought a comforting feeling to him and the louder he sang it the more it enveloped him. Before he knew it he was singing the song under his breath and it filled him.

He had no notion that he'd gotten so into it that by the chorus he was all but belting it out and that his brother was staring at him like he'd gone nuts.

"And even as I wander, I'm keeping you in sight  
You're a candle in the window on a cold dark winter night  
And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I might..."

"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked, breaking him out of his fog.

Dean realized what had just happened and made a small excuse to Sam. What the Hell was happening to him?


	2. Chapter 2

10 days later:

Dean and Sam returned to the roadhouse after the hunt. No, it wasn't a hunt. It was a nut that had taken is powers too far and it had been a mission to stop him.

If it had been a hunt then that meant that Sam was worthy to be hunted if he ever let this freak power thing get out of hand. And Sam WOULD NOT be hunted. Not if Dean had anything to say about it.

They returned to the road house for…Well, Dean wasn't sure for what. Sam said something about conferring with Ash and checking the progress of his rig to find the demon. Dean didn't know why they had to do that but he didn't care. When Sam suggested they go there Dean just got in the car and started driving.

He didn't want to see Rachel. But somehow not wanting to see her and the need to see her so bad it hurt seemed to be able to exist in the place inside him. Dean had a vague feeling that trying to stay away from her when they'd first went to the roadhouse was his big mistake.

He'd ignored her. He'd rejected her help and he'd tried to protect himself and Sam from her. Doing that went against everything in him.

Fine, he didn't want to give her the idea that they were anything but lovers, but he was confident in the fact that she understood that and maybe didn't even want to give HIM the wrong idea. But that's not what the cold shoulder had been about, it had been about keeping her at arm's length when it came to Sam and the secrets he had to keep about him Even, so he thought, from her.

He didn't trust other hunters, but she was different. Even dad had had people that weren't blood that he could count on, Pastor Jim, Caleb, even Bobby before they'd fallen out, why should she be any different to him?

So it was with that thought that he and Sam headed back to the Roadhouse.

They got there early in the morning. Dean pulled the car onto the gravel and he and Sam stepped out. It was just that second that Dean heard the shouting. Two female voices coming from inside the road house. Dean couldn't make out their words but whatever it was they were saying was accented with a breaking glass.

Dean looked at his brother. Sam looked back at him with confusion.

"Think we got a cat fight on our hands Sammy." He said and they walked towards the entrance.

As soon as they entered they saw Ellen and Rachel, their faces contorted in anger as they shouted.

"I am your mother, I don't have to be reasonable!" Ellen said.

"I knew you were going to do this! I just knew you were going to try to keep me here when I wanted to go." Rachel said.

"You're NOT GOING ANYWHERE! You hear me? I'm not going to let you go back to hunting." Ellen said.

"What are you going to do Mom? Keep me chained up in the basement?" Rachel asked.

Dean watched her with awe. He'd never seen her angry enough to shout. God she was sexy with her face all scrunched up.

"You know what, you've had worse ideas than that recently." Ellen said.

"Mom I didn't come back here to stay forever, you knew that. You have to accept that I'm going to hunt rather you like it or not." Rachel said.

"Yeah and what? Get yourself killed on some dusty back road while you're at it so I can say I lost my WHOLE family? Not on your life sweetie."

Rachel and Ellen both noticed San and Dean's presence just then. Rachel's face softened when she saw him but Ellen's remained just as angry.

"Guys, bad time." Ellen bit out.

"Yes, ma'am." Sam said meekly.

"Yeah, we rarely drink before ten anyway." Dean said. _Why do I have to joke at the worst moments? _Dean asked himself when Ellen shot daggers at him.

"Wait. I wanna know what they think about this." Rachel said.

She headed to the bar and picked up a folder that was laying n the polished surface. She stomped toward them and stopped right in front of Dean.

"I don't care what they think!" Ellen said.

The phone rang just then, Rachel's shoulder slumped and she rolled her eyes when it rang again. She turned on her heel and glared at her mother, waiting for her to pick up the phone.

Ellen blew out a frustrated breath on the fourth ring and stalked over to the wall phone.

"O'Connars." She barked into the mouth piece and then calmed a bit when the caller spoke. "Yeah, preacher." She said and settled into her conversation.

Rachel took the distraction to turn back to them, her face also softened a bit but Dean was still very away of the anger rolling off of her. She held out the folder to Dean but he didn't dare touch it.

"Three weeks ago a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment." She said holding the folder out. Dean still didn't reach for it.

"Take it, it won't bite." She said.

"No, but your mom might." He said and glanced over at Ellen still on the phone.

"Listen Dean, There's a case. People are dying. I can't get out of here right now until she calms down so I need you guys to get it started. Forget her, she doesn't care who dies as long as it's not me and that's not fair."

"Rachel-…" Dean said.

"Dean, please." She said and looked up at him, her eyes pleading.

Reluctantly he took the folder and opened it as she continued.

"And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years six women have vanished. All from the same building, all young brunettes. Only happens every decade or two so cops never eyeball the pattern. So we're probably dealing with one very old serial killer or the ghost of one." Rachel said.

Dean leafed through the file. Newspaper clippings and articles printed from the computer on reports of women disappearing as far back as the 50's.

Dean knew she'd been becoming restless. He could just see her in front of her computer at night, not being able to help herself from just at least looking when she came across this an hadn't been able to ignore it.

"Gotta admit. We hit the road for a lot less." Sam said when he looked to him for help.

"Good. You like the case so much, you take it." Ellen said, appearing at her daughters side.

"Mom" Rachel said, the anger gone from her voice and taking on a more pleading tone.

"Rachel Kathleen, this family has lost enough. And I won't lose you too. I just won't."

Dean saw Rachel and her mother exchange soulful looks. It was killing Rachel not to hunt but she stayed for her mother who she knew loved her. It must be hard for her, wanting her mother not to worry but still feeling the need to hunt.

Dean told her he'd take care of the case and left with Sam. He didn't want Rachel leaving Ellen any more then Ellen wanted Rachel to leave her side. The least Dean could do was take care of this for her.

They made it to philly a day and a half later. Sam had gone over the file in more detail and by the time they'd walked in to the building and up toward the apartment that the latest victim had disappeared in Dean was ready for the hunt that lay ahead of him and he tried very hard not to think of Rachel in the middle of it.

That was until Sam felt the need to bring her up as they crossed the threshold into the empty living room to do an EMF sweep.

"I feel kind of bad, snaking Rachel's case."

"Don't feel bad. She's where she belongs. With her family, or what's left of it any way." Dean said, walking in a bit ahead of Sam.

"Huh." Sam said behind him. Making him turn to see his brother looking at him quizzically.

"What?" Dean asked.

"She's saved your life on how many hunts Dean? How many time's has she saved mine? How many monsters has she killed?" Sam asked. "You really think the right place for a hunter like her is in some dingy bar, popping open beer bottles and stocking whisky? She's a good hunter and Ellen's selfish for trying to keep her there when she wants to be out helping people."

Dean just stared at him. Anger bubbled inside him a bit but he fought to keep it down. He succeeded but the effort gave a bite to his next words to his brother.

"Wow. So let me get this straight, you left because you didn't want to hunt. And you think it's wrong that Rachel stays because she wants go out and hunt." Dean said. "I'm starting to think it's not so much about hunting with you then it is just doing whatever the Hell your family DOESN'T want you to do."

Sam looked at him in shock. Not prepared for that reaction from him apparently. "Look, Rachel belongs at home with her mother." Dean said. "Where she's safe and with people who love her. Ellen's not wrong for trying to keep her only daughter alive."

If Sam had been about to get angry at Dean's first comment it ebbed away now. Dean could tell because Sam was looking at him with that cock eyed, puppy dog face.

"You really care about her, don't you?" Sam asked.

Now it was Dean's turn to be shocked. "What?" he asked incredulously.

"Yeah. I mean, I knew that it was serious when you stayed the night with her in the tree house, I mean that was what? Twice with the same girl and the only other girl there'd ever been a second time with was Cassie I'm assuming. And I know how you felt about her….."

"Ok Sam, that's enough." Dean said and walked away toward the opposite wall to start the EMF scan again. This was not a conversation he was going to have. Especially with Sam. But he knew about the tree house? And he'd gone so far as to analyzed it? God no!

"She's gotten to you. You're protective of her." Sam continued in spite his brothers retreating back and clear dismissal of the subject.

Dean turned toward him, needing to end this right now before Sam would conclude that he was in love with her. Because he was DEFINITELY not in love with her.

"Look Sam, I'm not going to pretend that she and I aren't….that we didn't….." Dean stopped, flustered. He took a deep breath and tried again. "You obviously know that she and I are….congical." Yeah, congical, that was it. A nice clinical term "And maybe I am protective of her and want her to be safe but it's only because she's become to us what Caleb was to dad. What Pastor Jim was to us growing up. Why do you have to romanticize it? Why does it have to be more than that?"

"Because dad never slept with Caleb, Dean." Sam said.

Dean thought about that and then gave Sam a chuckle and a little grin. "Well, Caleb didn't look like her in a pair of jeans."

Sam said nothing but just continued to give Dean that look.

"Ok, are we done? Can we put my love life on the back burner here and find the thing that's seems to be eating young girls with dark hair?" Dean asked.

Sam silently went back to work and so did Dean. Dean wasn't sure why they needed to have that exchange but he was glad it was over. Time to delve into work and not think about complicated things like Sam's opinion on his situation with Rachel.

"You getting anything?" Dean asked a few minutes later when his EMF was showing no spikes.

"What's that?" Sam said from the opposite wall behind him. Dean could hear the frown in his voice.

He turned and saw Sam standing near the door by the light switch, contemplating…..something.

"What?" Dean asked as he loved to his brothers side and followed his gaze.

Now it was Dean's turn to frown as he saw what had Sam so confused. The light switch was bare, just a hole where the switch had once been. Someone had removed the hardware leaving the wiring behind exposed. From the hole, dripping a bit down the down wall was a black, viscous liquid.

Sam touched it, it looked like thinned out tar.

"Holy shit." Sam said.

Dean reached out and touched the goo himself, his finger tip came away black and sticky with the substance. Dean registered what this was a second after his brother and did the 'holy shit' thing as well in his head.

"That's ectoplasm." Dean said out loud. "Well, Sam, I think I know what we're dealing with here. It's the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man."

Sam rolled his eyes at him. And rightly so, this was a big deal.

"Dean, I've only seen this stuff, like, twice. I mean, to make this stuff you have to be one majorly pissed off spirit." Sam said as he scanned the goo with his EMF detector, the needle spiked high and Dean knew it was time to get serious again.

"All right, let's find this badass before he snags any more girls." Dean said.

They decided that the next thing to do was start looking up the history of the building so they left the apartment and were headed downstairs to the car to retrieve the laptop.

As they turned into a corridor that would lead them to the elevator they heard the voices and ducked into a doorway alcove. They had snuck past the office to get up here to investigate without alerting anyone to avoid questions and having to give a reason to see the apartment. It was just quicker that way so now being seem up here would invite questions they didn't have ready answers for so they hid.

Two people talking, male and female. They were about to turn the corner into the corridor where Sam and Dean hid so the words of their conversation became clearer.

"It's so convenient." The female voice said.

"Yeah, it's a great building, fixed it up real nice. All the apartments come furnished, too." The male responded.

Dean's spider senses tingled. He recognized one of the voices and his curiosity made him peek around the threshold of where he hid to see them as they turned the corner.

_God Dammit!_ He said in his head as he saw the young, portly man walking next to the not quite petite girl. She wore jeans, a white shirt and a denim jacket. Her hair was pushed back from her face with a silver headband. Rachel.

"It is so spacious. You know, my friend told me I absolutely have to come check it out, and I have to admit, she was right. You did a really good job with this place." She said to the man she walked with.

Dean stepped out, Sam doing to the same next to him, having seen her as well.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Dean said before he could stop himself.

8 feet away, she looked toward him and gave a huge smile. The man next to her frowned in confusion.

"There you are, honey." She said brightly, quickening her pace toward him.

When she reached him she slid an arm around his waist, her smile still dazzling as he frowned at her.

"You were supposed to call me when you get here, silly." She gushed at him while he tried very hard not to look at her in utter confusion.

"Ed, this is my boyfriend Dean and his buddy Sam." She said to the man that was most likely the landlord based on what Dean had heard of their conversation.

"Good to meetcha." Ed said to Dean "Quite a gal you've got here."

Dean fell into the roll Rachel had created for them for Ed's benefit but couldn't help the malice that was seeping into him to replace the surprise of her sudden appearance. She just couldn't stay away like her mother wanted her to so here she was. Against Ellen's wishes and even most of his own, he realized.

It was with that malice that he put on a fake smile of his own, slid his arm around her in a mock embrace and hoped there wasn't too much teeth gritting going on as he spoke to the landlord.

"Oh yeah, she's a pistol." He said and gave her a hearty smack on the ass to go with the 'pistol' because she deserved it.

He was satisfied that it hurt enough when he saw her face contort just a bit and she struggled to regain her composure and speak again.

"So, did you already check out that apartment?" She asked, her voice faltering slightly. He again frowned at her.

"The one for rent?" She said, clarifying and giving a look that said he would pay for that later.

"Yeah. Yes." He stumbled to answer and then turned his attention to the landlord. "Loved it. Heh. Great flow."

"How'd you get in?" Ed asked.

"It was open." He said without missing a beat.

"Now, Ed, um, when did the last tenant move out?" Rachel asked.

"Oh, about a month ago. Cut and run, too. Stick me for the rent."

"Well. Her loss, our gain!" Rachel said and then turned to look sappily at Dean again."Cause if Dean-o loves it, it's good enough for me."

Her face was too damn smug for his liking.

"Oh, sweetie." He said with a sappy look of his own and gave her another smack.

She glared at him while gritting her teeth slightly under her smile. She fished a wad of money out of her jeans and turned toward Ed, holding it out to him.

"We'll take it."


	3. Chapter 3

Dean was still steaming at Rachel when they got back to the apartment after getting all the gear from the cars.

Sam, bless his gentle soul, tried to make light of it and talked about how easy this job would be with Rachel there, how they had the apartment for the whole month due to her quick thinking, yada yada yada.

It did no good. Dean hadn't said a word to her since he'd dropped his role as her boyfriend for the landlords benefit. And now he was stalking the apartment as she and Sam set up the lap tops on the big wooden dining room table.

She tried not to look in Dean's direction until he unscrunched his face but a devious little imp that wanted to poke at him grew in her belly until she didn't have a choice but to obey it.

"I'll flip you for the sofa." She said.

It did the trick, he gave her a mean glare with his beautiful hazel eyes and directed heated words at her.

"Your mother has no idea you're here does she?" He asked.

It was none of his business what she told her mother but she decided against telling him that lest the bug crawl further up his ass, so she told him the truth.

"Told her I was going to Vegas." She said.

"You think she's gonna buy that?" He asked with a negative look.

"I'm not an idiot. I got Ash to lay a credit card trail all the way to the casinos." She said.

"Why Rachel? Are you so bored that you need to lie to her just to get your hunting rocks off? You shouldn't be here."

She reigned in her own temper now. This was her case, she'd given it to them to buy some time to leave Nebraska, always meaning to join them. A part of her knew that him witnessing her mother being so adamant about her not leaving would make him behave this way with her. Dean was all about family, even if it wasn't his.

"Well, I am Dean. So untwist your boxers and deal with it because I'm not going anywhere." She said and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Ok, enough you two." Sam said stepping between them when he saw that Dean was about to retort. "Where'd you get all that money from any way Rachel? That was a month's rent and security I'm guessing."

Rachel followed Sam's lead and backed away from Dean, who also looked like he was deflating a little.

"Working, at the Roadhouse." She answered as she pulled the buildings blueprints out of her duffle bag.

"Hunters don't tip that well." Dean said with a bit of a snarl.

"Well, they aren't that good at poker, either." She said with a little chuckle, which stink face didn't return.

Rock music filled the air just then, Dean's phone, laying on the table next to Sam's laptop was the source. He picked it up, flipped it open and held it to his ear.

"Yeah." He said into it. A short pause then he looked up at her before speaking next. "Oh, hi Ellen."

Rachel hated the fact that her stomach dropped out. She should have known that she'd call him.

Dean moved away from the table and she followed him, planning on threatening castration if he gave her up. She knew her mother would find out eventually but for right now she wanted to think about the case and not her mother freaking out back in Nebraska and she needed to make sure Dean kept his mouth shut.

She walked up to him, as close to face to face with him as she could get with his superior height and gave him a warning look.

He pulled the phone back from his mouth and addressed her, she hated the fact that he had to look down at her to do it.

"I'm telling her." He said quietly.

Whispering through clinched teeth she called him a name and told him he better not, he followed suit and soon they were having a furious muttered argument.

"I haven't seen her." Dean said after pulling the phone back to his mouth. He still looked down at her as her mother spoke into his ear and she continued to glare up at him but she couldn't escape the fact that she was very relieved that he hadn't ratted her out.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He said. Then, "Absolutely."

He flipped the phone closed and just because he was still glaring at her, she gave him the biggest, cheesiest smile she could muster.

He rolled his eyes and walked away from her then. She was almost sure it was so he could resist the urge to choke the life out of her.

He'd lied to Ellen. Blatantly lied right to her. Dean hadn't know the woman very long but he was almost positive that if she'd ever caught wind of this she'd skin him alive.

Why had he done that? Why had he covered for her? He wanted her at home just as much as her mother did and he'd had the perfect opportunity to send her there if he'd just told the truth.

But doing that would make Rachel angry at him. And no matter how much he disagreed with her his loyalty was to Rachel, not her mother.

Dean tried not to think about it and accept the fact that this wasn't his fight. He would do everything he could to get Rachel home to Ellen after this case. Maybe then she would have gotten it out of her system for a while and be happy to be back home for a while longer.

He felt his blood pressure begin to settle a bit when Rachel and Sam sat down at the table and began working over the case. He couldn't help but get involved at that point.

Rachel and his brother had the blueprint of the building spread out before them, Rachel sat with her back to him and every now and he glanced at it as he paced back and forth behind her chair.

"This place was built in 1924. It was originally a warehouse, converted into apartments a few months ago." She told Sam.

"Yeah? What was here before 1924." Sam asked.

"Nothing. Empty field." Rachel said, shaking her head.

"So, most likely scenario, someone died bloody in the building, and now he's back and raising hell."

Rachel shook her head, making her dark hair sway a little down her back. Dean couldn't help but notice it and be enticed. No matter what else was going on with them he still found her very alluring and the fact that they were lovers still remained.

"I already checked. In the past eighty two years, zero violent deaths. Unless you count a janitor who slipped on a wet floor."

She raised her head and directed her voice at him without turning around. .

"Would you sit down, please?"

Dean gave up. He sat down opposite her and gave himself fully over to their case.

"Ok, are there any police reports or county death records tied into deaths here at all?" He asked.

She looked at him and he could swear he saw relief in her face. Probably due to the fact that she was happy to finally have him on board. He felt that way himself actually.

"Nothing. Even checked the obits, nothing there at all." She said.

"Okay! So it's something else, then. Maybe some kind of cursed object that brought a spirit with it." Sam suggested.

"Well, we've got to scan the whole building then. Everywhere we can get to, make sure we don't miss a thing" Rachel said.

Dean had to admit it was good to see her in her element again. She looked cute as Hell in her apron but this was what she was meant to do. She was a killer of the dead and being her partner again after so long felt good.

"Right. So. You and me, we'll take the top two floors." Dean said, standing.

"We'd move faster if we split up." She said.

She was right. And any other time he would have agreed to that, but not this time.

"Ok, listen. You're right. You're here, this is your case, what goes on between you and your mother shouldn't concern me."

"I'm glad you finally-" She started.

"BUT." He said cutter her off and looking at her very pointedly. "I'm in this now because I just lied to her for you. So that means that I've got to get you home no matter what because even though I'm dog meat for lying to her, she'll obliterate me if something happens to you on my watch. So that means you and me are joined at the hip sweetheart. Take it or leave it."

She stood up and moved to stand in front of him, never taking her eyes from him. He saw distain in her glare but he saw something else he was slowly coming to recognize in those green depths; Desire.

His little ultimatum had turned her on a bit despite the fact that it was irking her to no end.

"Fine." She said, her voice a bit thick. "Let's go."

She grabbed her EMF meter and was out the door, leaving him to follow.

They walked the halls of the top floor for a while in silence, the only sounds were the quiet hums of the EMF meters. Most of this floor was unrented according to what the landlord had told Rachel. They were still in the process of renting out all the units after the renovations and this was an entirely new wing of the building. Dean knew they probably wouldn't find much here but they had to look just to be sure.

"So. You gonna buy me dinner or what?" Rachel asked all of a sudden as they walked and scanned.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, noting that the hall lamps were switching on due to the setting sun outside the windows.

"It's just if you're gonna ride me this close it's only decent you buy me dinner." She said.

Dean chuckled.

"You're funny Rachel. I told you my reasons. Sorry if you've got a problem with it." He told her. "And even if that weren't the case I don't think I'd leave you alone here anyway. Just in case you haven't noticed you're kind of the spirits type."

"Oh, I've noticed. And we're going to use that to our advantage." She said.

He stopped and turned to her then.

"What? Bait?" He asked.

"Exactly." She said like it was nothing of consequence.

"No. Not happening." Dean said.

"What? Like we've never done that before? New Orleans? Jack the Ripper? Remember that?" She asked mockingly.

"Yeah but that was before I felt responsible for you." He said.

He saw her face cloud over and her eyes darken.

"Ok, I'm done." She said.

She shut the EMF off, put it in her pocket and walked up to him.

"Listen, you want to be pissed that I'm here? Go ahead. You want to keep tabs on me because you feel like you owe my mother? Fine, I'll deal. But don't think for a second you're going to tell me how we're going to run this case. We've never worked together like that before and we're not going to now. So back off and quit acting like my babysitter." She said.

Ok. She wanted to get all huffy? He could do huffy. He slid his own EMF meter into the pocket of his canvas jacket and took the two steps that closed the distance between them completely, forcing her to look up at him, her eyes blazing a bit.

_God she's so fucking sexy._ He thought._ What?! No! Stop that! You're having an argument! _He demanded of himself , but it was so hard to keep focus when she was looking at him so hotly.

"First of all, I'm not trying to be your babysitter, you've been out of the game for months, you think you can just jump back in like this and be ready?" He asked, his voice rising just a bit.

"Yes. But that's not what you're on about. Your problem is my mother now, don't pretend it isn't." She said.

He saw her glance at his mouth when he grimaced at her a bit and then quickly look back up. She only did that in times just before he'd kissed her. Maybe that's what she wanted right now. He felt himself harden a bit at the thought that she was so mad she could be horny. Again he tried to reign in the thought and focus on the fight they seemed to have gotten into.

"Your mother out of the picture completely, I would still have a problem with you right now. You're rusty and you know it." He said.

"Yeah? Well you're being an asshole instead of trying to help me get my game back" She spat.

"Well stop being such a bitch and maybe I can help you." He said.

The heat rose between them, if he didn't do something about it soon he would have to walk in front of her until the hard on that was only getting bigger in his jeans at the moment calmed down.

"Did you just call me a bitch?" She asked with eyes that could shoot lasers at him.

"You called me an asshole." He retorted.

"Because that's how you're acting." She said.

"Well this asshole could kiss you until that smart mouth of yours bleeds right now." He said before he could stop himself.

"Then what the fuck are you waiting for?" She asked without missing a beat and threw herself into his arms before he could answer.

Their mouths collided in a fierce kiss. He wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her small frame, crushing her to himself and lifting her for better access to her mouth, which he devoured.

He backed her up against the wall, they hit it with a good thud and it was with the brace behind her back that she was able to wrap her calves around his thighs, opening her center to him where he pushed his arousal against her.

She moaned in response and threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling it a bit as she melded her tongue with his. He slid his hands down to her ass and took one glorious cheek in each. He squeezed them roughly and pulled her against him, grinding his hips against her so she could feel what she'd done to him.

He couldn't get enough of that hot mouth of hers, her lips slanting over his his, her breath short and panting against his own mouth. And then she did the one thing that could completely drive him over the edge.

In the middle of the passionate kiss she sucked just a tiny bit on his bottom lip, she pulled it into her mouth and gave it the smallest of nips with her teeth. He felt his balls tighten almost painfully at the burst of erotic pleasure that shot through him at the action; if he had a weakness at all it was having his lip bitten like that. Some people had erogenous zones, that was his by a mile.

He pulled his mouth away and looked at her. She looked up at him, her mouth open, her lips a bit swollen and her breath coming in short gasps that made her chest rise and fall.

He growled softly in the back of his throat and attacked her mouth again. She accepted him with a hand on the nape of his neck, holding him close to her.

God, he needed to get her out of this hallway or he was going to fuck her right here up against this wall.

While not a lot of people lived on this floor he was almost sure at least 1 of the people who did would hear and catch them.

Still kissing her he opened his eyes and looked down the corridor, his eyes stopped short on a door that was right next to where he had her pinned. The sign on it said "Maintenance Only"

Broom closet. Perfect.

He reached over and tried the knob. It turned in his hand and slid open when he pushed it. _YES! _

He pulled her away from the wall and let her feet slide to the ground. With his arms around her he guided her through the door, they never broke their kiss as he moved them into the dark room and kicked the door shut behind them.

He pulled his mouth away from her just long enough to look around the dark room, a low table there in the corner to his left. Perfect.

He kissed her again and moved her over to it. He could feel that she wanted him just as bad as he wanted her right now and a dark broom closet on a dusty table was at the moment the most romantic place in the world.

He hopped her up onto the table and they wasted no time after that. They began pulling at each other's clothes, both of them panting with need as shoes, jackets and jeans went flying in every direction. She pooped a button off of his shirt in her frenzied attempt to get it off him and he didn't even bother with the clasp of her bra but instead just pulled the damn thing right over her head, which she lifted her arms to help him do.

Finally naked and able to feel her skin against his, he pressed a hand to the small of her back and leaned down to kiss her again, their heat hadn't died down but slowed just a bit, knowing they could take their time now that they were alone.

Dean felt her beautiful, heavy breast press against his bare chest, her hands running down his back and the soft flesh of her inner thighs against his hips as she wrapped her legs around him once again, this time without the barrier of denim.

It was an invitation. One he was happy to accept.

He reached down between them, took hold of his raging hard cock and guided the head into her slick opening. She was wet and ready for him, the heat that emanated from that tight place was too much to resist so he didn't even try. With a sharp jerk of his hips he pushed into her fully, inciting a gasp from her that was mostly pleasure but he was sure was part delicious pain as well.

Good. She deserved it.

Hot and tight, her body enveloped him and Dean moaned softly against her mouth as sensation rolled through him. His balls tight against his body, he slid his hands down to her hips and took firm hold of them as he began to move.

He slid in further, buried himself as far as he could go then pulled out almost completely before pushing back in again. Oh God, the delicious friction of that tight sheath was almost too much to bear, but he kept his pace and relished in the feeling.

She slid her left arm around his shoulders and braced her right hand on the table behind her. The anchored position allowed her to slightly lift herself off the table and gyrate her hips against him, meeting every one of his thrusts.

Eyes closed, she threw her head back, exposing her long neck to him. He couldn't resist leaning forward and closing his mouth over the delicate flesh above her collar bone. She groaned in response.

He quickened the pace a bit, making his stokes a bit shorter, jerkier and sharper, she met his rhythm and found his mouth again. He slid his tongue into her mouth and tasted all the sweetness she had to offer. God, her cunt was so fucking hot as he pushed his hard cock into it, his senses were unusually heighted and he fought down the building urge to come.

He slid his arm around her lower back, holding her in an iron grip as he leaned forward, pushing her back a bit. He slid his other hand up her side, over her ribcage and cupped her large breast, squeezing it lightly as he continued to thrust into her pussy.

Her nails dug into his shoulder as he pinched the taught nipple and rolled it between his fingers. He relished that bit of sting, letting it roll through him like the rest of the intense sensation was. She cursed against his mouth as his thrusts got more powerful. He couldn't help himself, the need to fuck her harder was incredible and she seemed to feel it too.

"Ah, God." She breathed as she arched her neck away from him.

His hands slid to her back, just under her shoulder blades and then down to her hips again as she leaned back against the table, her hands moving down his arms in light, feathery touches as she went until she was laying on her back, her dark hair pooled around her.

Dean took in the new image before him; her hot, naked body beautifully exposed to him. Big, luscious tits that bounced a little every time he pushed his cock into her. Her small narrow waist flaring out to womanly hips. Her belly flat and her sex smooth and completely open to him.

He looked down and watched himself as he slid in and out of her. His shaft wet with her juices made for the most erotic sight, he almost dropped his load right then looking at it but he reigned himself back in and looked up at her again.

Her back was arched off the table, making her tits even more enticing. He slid a hand up between that valley, over her sternum to her throat and then finally cupping her jaw. She turned her head into his hand and took his thumb into her mouth. Her tongue flickered over it and he couldn't help but think of his cock in her mouth at the action.

That was it, he couldn't take anymore. She needed to come right now because he didn't know how much longer he could keep at this if she was going to be this fucking sexy.

He moved his other hand to the top of her pubis and slid his thumb into her hot, moist sex and found her clit. He began moving in tiny circled over it and she went crazy.

"Oh yes, right there." She breathed and jerked her hips up.

He moved his hand back down to her hip as he continued to finger her clit and fuck her at the same time. It wasn't long before she was crying out her release and bucking against him. Her pussy tightening around his cock as the orgasm rolled through her.

He watched her in fascination as she came and when she was done he pulled her back up into his arms. She came willingly and they wrapped their arms around each other. He leaned forward a little and she slid her knees up higher on his flanks, opening herself to him that much more.

He buried his head in the crook of her neck as he felt his own orgasm begin to roll through him as he thrust into her. He didn't fight it this time, he let it course through his body as he jammed his cock into her a few more times before it over took him completely.

He rode the feeling up until it burst out of him, he felt his hot come spurt out of him and into her and his groan was muffled against her neck. She held him tight as the sensation ran through him like electricity and then died down slowly. His hips made small, involuntary jerks now as his cock softened inside of her but she held him anyway.

When it was over completely he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. They were both covered in a thin sheen of sweat and panting. Their passion was the hottest and hardest it had ever been so far and their bodies knew it.

He kissed her again. Not hard like before but gently. Tasting her lips this time instead devouring them. When he pulled away and looked down into her eyes again she smiled a bit at him. He smiled back.

"You're still an asshole." She whispered.

"You're still a bitch." He whispered back.


	4. Chapter 4

Rachel and Dean dressed in the gloom of the small room. It only occurred to Rachel that they hadn't used protection as she began pulling her jeans on. When she mentioned it to Dean she almost burst out laughing when she saw the shade of white he threatened to turn.

She assured him she'd had her period just a few days ago, and after they both assured each other that neither of them had any yucky diseases to worry about they put it out of their mind for the most part.

But it did cross Rachel's mind that if she was going to be having sex like this, on somewhat of a regular basis, it was probably a good idea to get on some kind of birth control again. Condoms were never 100% (even less so when you forget to use one in the heat of the moment) so better to be safe than sorry.

Just as Dean pulled on his jacket his cell phone began ringing. It was Sam asking about their progress. Dean was thinking on his feet and told his brother that because there were so many empty apartments up here on the top floor they'd taken their time to search each one. Sam bought it but when Dean hung the phone up he turned to Rachel and told her to hurry because they really DID need to get back to work.

"Hey, this was your fault, not mine." She teased him as she pulled on her own jacket.

"No, this was your fault. You needed to be a smart mouth about this whole thing with your mother and that's how I shut smart mouths up." He said and gave her his best smile.

She crossed over to him with a slow saunter and a half smile on her face. She took hold of the front of his jacket and pulled him close. With lazy eyes looking down at her, he enclosed her in his arms.

"Fair enough. But I hope were done arguing about this. But you can pretend I have a smart mouth whenever you want. I like the way you shut me up." She said.

He lowered his head and kissed her. Her belly fluttered and she pressed her thighs together gently, loving the feeling of his juices on her panties and still lubricating her sex.

"I promise, I'm done." He said when he raised his head. "You're a big girl, you can make your own decisions. I just don't get it, that's all."

She contemplated his face in the shadows. He really was worried about her, really did want to protect her. He cared enough to want good things for her.

She only let her thoughts go so far with this before reining them in. No matter how he acted, it was a bad idea to get it into her head that Dean Winchester cared about her on that kind of level. She told herself that he was just a stubborn son of a bitch.

"I've been dying in that damn bar Dean" She said looking up into his eyes. "I've been slowly losing who I am by slicing lime and popping beers. Can you understand that?"

He looked down at her, studying her face but didn't answer.

"I'm finally back where I belong. Finally doing this job that I love and I'm starting to feel like myself again. You don't know what it's like to feel so trapped."

Once again he didn't answer her but she could swear that his eyes told her he understood. And more importantly that she would get no more resistance from him about this. She tried to tell him with her own eyes how grateful she was.

"We've got to get back to work." He said finally stepping away from her and toward the door. She followed and closed the door behind her when they stepped out.

They finished their top floor search and moved down to the floor below. As Rachel scanned for EMF she watched him, a little ahead of her doing the same and it struck her as funny that they could just slip right back into being hunting partners after taking a break to have angry sex in a broom closet.

The thought made her smile. It was as she was smiling that she felt the touch on the back of her leg. It made her gasp and turn around, looking to see what had touched her.

"What?" Dean asked, turning to look at her when he'd heard the gasp.

She looked down, nothing was there. Just an old brass grating covering a vent where she supposed she'd been standing when she'd felt the touch.

"I'm not sure." She said with a frown. Had she imagined it?

"Do you smell that?" Dean asked.

She looked up at him. He was frowning and taking deep breaths, obviously studying the odor.

She took a deep breath of her own. She smelled it too, faintly but there it was; thick, like eggs almost yet slightly astringent.

"Gas leak maybe?" She offered.

"No not gas." He said, taking another long sniff. "I know it. Just can't put my finger on it."

Rachel bent to get a reading from the grating, maybe it was just a draft from this vent she'd felt but she wanted to scan it just to be sure.

She swiped the EMF meter over the brass, the needle shot up 10 points and purred to life. She was surprised at the reaction, definitely not a draft she'd felt.

"Woah." Dean said.

"It's in the vent." She said. He voice serious.

Dean crouched beside her and took a small flash light out of his pocket as well as a small multi-tool looking thingie. He handed her the flash light, she turned it on and shone it into the grating as he flipped open the screwdriver part of the tool.

He took out the four screws that held the brass grating to the wall in quick succession.

Rachel's heart began pounding in her chest as he got closer to getting into wall. The feeling of the thrill of discovery, almost forgotten, washed over her. She felt the warm rush of adrenalin in her belly and savored the forgotten feeling. She was back in her element and the excitement of it at this moment was an amazing feeling.

She forced her thoughts back to the issue at hand as Dean pulled the brass off the wall and peered into the dark hole.

He took the flashlight from her and shone it in, looking for anything that might be out of the ordinary.

"There's something in there. Here." He said and handed her the flash light again.

He reached his arm inside, feeling around and then withdrew, holding….something. What was that?

The realization of what it was caught Rachel completely off guard and if she had been a civilian she maybe would have thrown up.

Dean held a few strands of long dark hair, clumped and matted together and at the end of it a chunk of bloody scalp dangled.

Rachel and Dean looked at each other. The horror of it shared but unspoken.

"Somebody's keeping souvenirs." Dean said.

Sam found nothing on his search and was equally horrified at his brother's find when they got back to the apartment and filled him in. Rachel's head buzzed with all it could mean and she went over it all again with the Winchesters again, as they ate delivered pizza for dinner and then again when she and Sam went over everything from the blueprints to the police reports at the dining room table.

The only time she allowed her mind to stray from it was when she took a shower later that evening. As she washed herself under the hot stream of water she couldn't help but remember Dean's hands on her earlier. Before long she was closing her eyes and picturing the image of him standing over her as she lay on the table in the broom closet. His chest a wall of muscle, bunched tensely as he thrust into her again and again. The erotic image turned her on so much that it wasn't long before she was leaning against the wall in the shower, her soapy fingers running over her sex, rubbing the tight little nub of nerves hidden in the folds until she found another release.

God, the things he could do to her. She wished for a moment that Sam wasn't around. Maybe he could have joined her in the shower and…_Ok, this is a hunt. Not a whoring trip Rach. Get it together. _

When she finished dressing in sweats and a T-shirt she stepped out to find Dean snoozing on the couch and Sam still pouring over the info at the dining room table.

"Let's give it a rest, Sam. I'm starting to see double here. Let's look at it fresh in the morning huh? Dean's already passed out from the circles we've started going in" She said.

"Yeah," Sam said looking up at her. "Or maybe you just wore him out."

Rachel was startled silent. She stared at Sam, letting his implication sink in. She blinked at him and gave him a cracked "What?"

"Do you guys think I'm stupid?" He asked. "An hour on the top floor and the explanation is that you searched all the empty apartments? More like, found an empty one you liked and christened it." He said.

She stared at him blankly again. Ok so he knew. Big deal.

"Nothing gets passed you Sam." She said, feeling her cheeks heat just a bit and hoping that the color flushing them wasn't too red.

"Yeah, especially when your cover stories are ridiculous." He said.

"I'll think of a better one next time." She offered.

He shut the laptop and stood up. "Good night Rachel." He said as he turned toward the bedroom.

"Good night Sam." She said. Half way to the bedroom door he turned around and addressed her again.

"By the way." He said and finally gave her a smile that said all was forgiven. "It's good to have you back Rach."

She smiled back at him. She was slowly falling in love with this kid as if he were her own little brother, his smile was infectious and she found herself returning it.

"It's good to be back with you guys." She said.

He gave her a small nod and began to turn back toward the bedroom.

"Oh and Sam," She called. He turned back to her again. "Broom closet."

He frowned at her and gave his head a slight tilt to the left.

"It was a broom closet, not an empty apartment." She clarified.

Sam raised his eye brows in understanding. "Yeah. Gross." He said. "Good night."

She chuckled a "Good Night." Back to him and watched as he disappeared into the bedroom.

Rachel found a few fleece throws in the closet and threw one over Dean before curling up on the oversized loveseat and drifting off to sleep herself.

Before she did her last thought of the night was that she felt like she belonged again. And that after months of feeling so out of place and trapped, it was the most liberating feeling she could ever hope to have.

Dean woke the next morning with a crook in his back the size of his fist. Damn couch. If he really lived her he would have tossed it out of the window just to watch it crack on the street below.

He looked over at the dining room table and Rachel sat there amidst all the news papers, police reports, blue prints and other goodies they had about the case.

"Morning Princess." She said and gave him a big smile.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked.

"Coffee run. Need my Joe to get moving. You on the other hand look like you need a chiropractor named Joe. Didn't sleep too good?" She asked.

"Nothing a hot shower won't fix." He said and then he felt the mischievous grin spread over his face before he could stop it. "Hey, wanna hit the shower with me and give me a message before Sam get's back?"

He watched the corners of her mouth rise slowly as the provocative suggestion took root in her brain. Before she could answer the front door slammed open and there Sam stood, he was out of breath and his eyes were a bit wild.

"There are cops outside. Another girl disappeared."


	5. Chapter 5

Rachel stalked the length of the living room back and forth. Sam raised his head from the lap top screen every now and then to look at her from where he sat at the dining room table.

Dean had been gone 45 minutes already. Where the Hell was he? It didn't take this long pretend to be a cop and do a quick emf search of the missing girls apartment.

She should have gone with him. She had listened when he said that it was better that just one of them go to see if it was their spirit they were dealing with. BUT WHERE THE HELL WAS HE ALREADY?

"You know if you keep chewing on that thumb your hitch hiking days will be over because you're gonna swallow it eventually." Sam said.

She looked at him confused and then realized she did have her thumb nail in her mouth. She bit her nails when she was nervous, she dropped her hand to her side and kept walking.

"Some things holding him up, I know it. He's been gone too long." She said and she continued to pace.

"Would you relax please? He hasn't been gone THAT long." Sam assured her.

But his words did nothing to quell her nerves. She was so antsy because she felt like this was all her fault. Guilt was beginning to weigh on her and she was trying her best to shake it off to no avail.

If she had focused on the case wholly since she'd got here maybe this wouldn't have happened. She and Dean had been at each other's throats and then at each other private parts since she'd gotten here and it had taken away time and focus that could mean life or death in a case like this.

_I bet that poor girl got taken while I was getting fucked in a broom closet._ She thought. _Some damn hunter I am. _

No more though. She was going to delve into this and figure it out before anyone else got hurt. She was sure Dean was thinking the same.

As if summoned by the thinking of his name, Dean opened the door and shut it behind him. Rachel stopped pacing and looked at him expectantly.

"Teresa Ellis. Apartment 2F. Boyfriend reported her missing around dawn." He reported.

"And her apartment?" Rachel asked. _Please be free of ghost signs. Please be free of ghost signs. _

"Cracks all over the plaster, walls, ceiling. There was ectoplasm, too."

_FUCK! _

"Well, between that and that tuft of hair I'd say this sucker's coming from the walls." Sam said.

"But who is it? Building's history is totally clean." Dean reminded them.

Rachel's head buzzed. She remembered seeing a photo that had struck her interest. She moved to the dining room table and shifted some of the papers around until she found it.

"Well, maybe we're looking in the wrong place." She offered, staring at the picture.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Check this out." She walked and handed it to him.

Sam Leaned over to view it as well. She saw both the brothers frown at the picture of the lot.

"An empty field?" Sam asked, looking up at her.

"It's where this building was built. Take a look at the one next door. The windows." Rachel pointed out.

"Bars." Sam said with a note of realization in his voice.

"We're next door to a prison?" Dean asked

Rachel didn't Answer him because she was busy dialing her phone. Already 2 steps ahead of the Winchesters it seemed.

"What're you doing?" Dean asked.

"Calling Ash, he knows how to get into the county records, it'll save us a trip to the local library.

She spent the next 4 minutes on the phone with Ash, gathering the info he seemed to have almost readily available. When she was done and had what she needed she hung up the phone and turned back t Sam and Dean to divulge what she had learned.

"Okay. Moyamensing prison. Built in 1835, torn down in 1963. And get this. They used to execute people by hanging them in the empty field next door." She told them.

The brothers exchanged a look, relief crossing both their features to have a solid lead finally.

"Well, then, we need a list. All the people executed there." Sam said.

"Ash is already on it." Rachel said. Happy to have her head back in the game and off of Dean's ass.

An hour later Sam scrolled through the list Ash just sent via email while Rachel looked over one of his shoulders and Dean the other.

"A hundred fifty seven names?" Sam asked, his shoulders deflating just a bit.

The hope that Dean had allowed to build in light of their new lead took a steep plummet when he saw all the names. The kidnapped girl could be dead by the time they finished researching all those prisoners, even with all 3 of them looking at the same time.

"We've gotta narrow that down." He said out loud.

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

Dean looked at Rachel over the top of Sam's head. She gave him a worried look that matched how he felt inside right at that moment.

"Herman Webster Mudgett?" Sam said under his breath.

Dean looked at his brother to see him frowning. Then at the computer screen to see that very name among the list.

"Yeah?" Rachel asked, confused.

"Wasn't that H. H. Holmes' real name?" Sam asked him.

_No way. _Dean thought. The name Herman Webster Mudgett didn't mean anything to him but H. H. Holmes' sure did.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me. Yep. Holmes was executed at Moyamensing, May 7, 1896." Dean said looking at his brother in disbelief.

Dean remembered that because in his very short senior year in high school he'd taken criminology, one of the only classes that ever held his interest in all of his school years and they'd spent a time studying H. H. Holmes and his murders. He'd found it fascinating.

"H. H. Holmes himself. Come on, I mean, what are the odds?" Sam said. In just as much awe as Dean was at the moment.

"Ok, you guys want to tell me why you're going all gaga over this dude?" Rachel asked.

"The term 'multi-murderer.' They coined it to describe Holmes. He was America's first serial killer, before anybody knew what a serial killer was." Dean explained to Rachel. Turning the computer screen toward her, which had a page about Holmes' on it, Sam continued as she leaned over to look at it.

"Yeah, he confessed to twenty seven murders, but some put the death toll at over a hundred."

Dean stood, not able to retain his seat as he began remembering all the details he'd learned about the Holmes' murders and how all the pieces were starting to fit together.

"And his victim flavor of choice? Pretty petite brunettes. He, uh, he used chloroform to kill 'em." A ding went off in his brain just then. "Which is what I smelled in the hallway last night. At his place, cops found human remains, bone fragments, and long locks of bloody dark hair."  
"Well then this has to be our guy." Rachel said standing to her full height again and meeting his eyes. "Find out where he's buried Sam, we'll go right now."

"Sorry Rach, not as easy as that." Sam said studying the computer screen again. "His body is buried in town, but it's encased in a couple tons of concrete."

"What? Why?" She asked with a deep frown.

"The story goes that he didn't want anybody mutilating his corpse. 'Cause, you know, that's what he used to do." Dean answered.

He saw her exasperated look at the news. He echoed her feelings inside. How the Hell were they supposed to deal with this short of 3 jackhammers and praying no one asked any questions when they used them in the middle of the night to dig up a the towns famous serial killer?

"You know somethin'. We might have an even bigger problem than that." Sam said not looking up from the screen.

_Oh YAY! Bigger! _Dean thought.

"How does this get bigger?" Rachel asked Sam.

"Holmes built an apartment building in Chicago. He called it the Murder Castle. The whole place was a death factory, they had, uh, trap doors, acid vats, quick line pits... he built these secret chambers inside the walls. He'd lock his victims in, keep them alive for days. Some he'd suffocate, others he'd let starve to death." Sam answered.

"So wait. Teresa could still be alive? She could be inside these walls?" Rachel asked, her eyes widening with some hope for the lost girl.

She looked up at Dean and they locked eyes. In that gaze, a plan was took shape without a word passing between them.

"We need sledgehammers, crowbars. We've got to smash these walls, anywhere thick enough to hide a girl." Dean said.

20 minutes Dean squeezed ahead of Rachel in the dark musty crawl spaces between the walls.

It was dark, it was dank and it was, unfortunately, completely necessary. Rachel spoke briefly to Sam on the phone, he's taken the 1st floor while heand Rachel had taken the 2nd

They would have all split up completely but Dean followed his gut and insisted that she stick with him. He saw the protest begin in her eyes when he'd said they'd team up but was thankful that she'd swallowed it down and not voiced her obvious problem with it.

"Sam's almost done with the first floor. Hasn't found anything either." She informed him, closing her phone and slipping it into the pocket of her denim jacket.

Dean swept his flash light a head a ways and stopped when he saw that their progression wouldn't be able to continue.

"What is it?" Rachel asked.

"It's too narrow. Can't go any further." He told her and started to turn around in the confined space.

She tried to sweep her flash light past him but when she couldn't get a clear view of the space beyond him she turned sideways and began to push past him.  
Let me see.

"What are you- ugh." He started but was cut off by the sensation that shot through him as her ass pressed into his crotch as she tried to get on the other side of him in the closed space.

"Oh, yeah. Ok." He said under his breath.

Still pressed up against him, she shot him a dirty look over her shoulder.

"You know this is probably how this poor girl got taken in the first place. Because we decided getting naked and doing it in a broom closet was more important than doing our jobs. So let's both try to keep it in your pants for the rest of this hunt huh?" She said.

He'd been thinking the along the same lines. He wasn't surprised she was as well, but he couldn't help but tease her just a bit.

"Sure. Wanna get that sweet ass off my junk then?" He asked mockingly.

After jabbing a quick elbow into his ribs she finally managed to get onto the other side of him. He was happy to be free of the pressure but damn, she'd given him a good chubby.

"I can fit in there, Dean." She said, aiming her flash light at the wall and pipes. He judged the size and yes, with her slight frame she absolutely could squeeze into that tight space, but there was no way he could follow.

"You're not going in there by yourself." He said. Chubby deflating rapidly when she made the suggestion.

"You got a better idea?" She asked, he voice snapping just a bit.

"It's not a good idea. Let's just stick together." He said.

"I'm going." She said and shimmied past the narrowest of pipes before he could grab her jacket.

"Rachel! Stop. Come back" He said.

She turned to look at him from the other side of the pipes, she was no more than 2 feet away, he could reach through and grab her if he wanted to, but if she pulled away he didn't see how he could squeeze his shoulders through there. DAMN IT!

"Dean. Please. I'm fine. I got this." She said, her voice soft and her eyes pleading just a bit.

He held her eyes and ground his jaw to keep his cool.

"Why are you so damn stubborn?" He asked. "Just be careful. Ok?"

She smiled at him. Actually fucking smiled at him! Then without another word she turned and moved further away along the wall.

She kept going and he kept sight of her for as long as he could before the gloom closed around her. He relied on his ears and then and kept track of her progress by the sound of her foot falls. It wasn't too long before those were too faint to follow anymore.

Pulling out his phone he called her cell. Relief swept over him when she answered.

"Where are you?" He asked. Trying not to sound too annoyed.

"On the north wall. I'm heading down some kind of air duct." She informed him.

"Oh no no no. Stay up here ok." He said.

"Look, we have to find this girl don't we?" She paused but he didn't reply. "I'm ok."

Dean pulled the blueprints he had strategically folded out of his pocket and studied it for a moment. He followed what he imagined would have been her progress along the north wall and saw what was most likely the air duct she was talking about.

If he went out the way he came and doubled back a bit on the other side he could meet her.

"Alright, I'm headed toward you. Stay put." He told her.

He moved along the wall toward the hole they'd made to enter and was about 4 feet from the opening when he heard the scream.

Loud and shrill, the voice was unmistakably Rachel's.

Dean's heart jumped in his chest. He put the phone back to his ear and called her name over the mouth piece 3 times. No answer.

He shoved the phone in his pocket and ran to the opening in the wall. He burst out of it, propped against the wall next to the opening was the sledge hammer they'd used to make the opening. He grabbed it then ran as fast as he could.

He tried to quiet his frantic brain as he ran flat out, trying his best to judge where she'd be based on what he'd seen in the blueprint. His heart pounding in his chest now, not sure if the cry he'd heard was fear or pain from her but knowing that he was running out of time to reach her.

He found the wall. _Please be the right wall._ And hefted the sledge hammer over his shoulder. The dry wall was no match. Over and over again he pounded the wall, desperate to make the opening big enough to get to her, calling her name the whole time. The weight of the hammer meant nothing, his adrenalin was pumping through his body so hard it could have been a feather.

_Almost. Almost. _He tried to stop the images that assaulted him when he thought of looking into the hole. Would he find her bloody? Broken? One image was of her laying there, limbs twisted and her eyes staring blankly at him. The light gone from them.

One final swing, he dropped the hammer and stuck his head in. None of the images that just passed through his brain awaited him when he looked into the gloom.

He saw her air duct, the walls of it were covered in black ooze and the smell of chloroform was so intense it made his nostrils burn. And laying right there, right dab smack in the middle of it; Rachel's cell phone.

She was gone. He'd taken her.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the smell that brought Rachel back to consciousness. Her head swam with fuzzy thoughts, her head felt like it had a million bee's buzzing around inside it and she felt like her mouth had been stuffed with cotton. She was able to open her eyes but nothing was in focus, all she saw were outlines and dark shapes. Slowly she became aware of the smell of raw sewage and waste and the more awake she became the more she registered the horrid stink until she was gaging on it.

The coughing and choking that came next helped her to come fully to her senses. She was able to look around and take in her surroundings and that's when the fear set in. She was laying on her back on cold stone, there was light but it was very faint, but even so she could make out that there was a stone ceiling not 10 inches above her face.

A coffin, she was in a coffin! Her heart began to race as claustrophobia set in and in her panic everything that had happened came back to her in a burst:

_She'd been crawling along the air duct, she'd lost reception with Dean so she was on her own, she waved her flash light along the steel walls of the duct and froze in shock as the walls started to bleed black ooze. She knew she'd better get out, and she'd tried shimmy back the way she'd come but it was too late. He was on her before she could get out in the open, she let out a quick shriek before she was engulfed in chloroform and he sight dimmed. _

_MY FLASHLIGHT! _She thought as she reached into the pocket of her denim jacket. A wave of pure relief surged through her as she closed her hand around the small metal cylinder. She switched it on and swooped it around.

To her right there was an opening, a small window she could see out of and which allowed the dim light from beyond to enter into her cell. It was blocked with bars but she was happy to see it none the less. It meant that she wasn't in a coffin or even completely confined, she felt a wave of relief course through her and felt the claustrophobia that threatened to suffocate her ebb back just a bit.

She peered through the opening and saw what appeared to be a large round chamber. Along the walls of it were compartments, similar to the one she was in, with the same kind of openings. So this was it? This was where Holmes' brought his victims.

"Hello." She called out into the chamber.

Silence for a moment, then a small voice, off to her right maybe.

"Is - is anybody there?" The voice said.

"Are you Teresa?" Rachel asked.

"Yes." The girl answered.

Rachel breathed a small sigh of relief. She was alive. She and Dean might be responsible for the spirit taking her but they weren't responsible for her death, at least not yet anyway.

A funny thought struck Rachel; she actually even chuckled a bit when the idea popped into her head. She decided that maybe Theresa needed a bit of a laugh too, seeing as their current situation was so dire.

"This won't make you feel better, but I'm here to rescue you." Rachel announced.

Theresa didn't laugh.

Before Rachel could think of another joke to crack, the silence was broken by soft footsteps in the distance. Rachel craned her neck to who they belonged to but she saw nothing.

"Oh God. He's out there, he's gonna kill us!" Theresa's terrified voice overlapped the sound. Rachel had to keep her calm.

"No, he won't. We're getting out." Rachel knew she had no right to promise such a thing but her heart wrenched for the frightened girl. "I'm with friend and they're looking for us right now. They'll find us, just keep calm."

The footsteps got quicker and louder. Her gut told her they didn't belong to Sam or Dean and she started to feel a bit of the panic that Theresa was feeling.

"Oh god, it's him!" Theresa choked her voice thick with fear.

"Shh! Just be quiet!" Rachel demanded.

Theresa listened and quieted. Rachel strained her ears to hear the foot falls again but they were gone. She held her breath, lay very still and strained her ears. Where had he gone?

The hand that shot into her cage through the bars came from nowhere. Rachel screamed as the dirty, molten, rotten flesh of the thing grabbed her head. She didn't even register the pain as he ripped a chunk of her hair out.

Dean ran the metal detector over the grass of the empty lot next to the apartment building and stopped at every tiny beep he heard the device make. He wasn't the prying type but if he were ever to do it now was the time.

When Rachel had disappeared Dean had gone back to the apartment and frantically told Sam what happened. Sam, much calmer than he had been, had a theory that Holmes might have recreated his "Murder Castle" under the building somehow. Dean argued that the building didn't have a basement according to the blueprints. In turn Sam theorized that the old abandoned sewer system that was adjacent to the foundation of the building might have sufficed for Holmes.

It was a long shot but it was all they had at the moment. And what was worst, just as they were getting ready to head out the door to begin their search for an entrance into the sewer system, Ellen called. And she was angrier than a crocodile with a tooth ache.

She told Dean that Ash had folded and told her everything. She demanded to speak to Rachel and Dean had had no choice but to tell her what happened. He swore he would find her, and he meant every word of it, but Ellen was furious and she was on her way.

Dean pulled his thoughts from her and the inevitability that Ellen would gut him when she got here and focused on finding Rachel. She was alive, she had t be. If Holmes was intent on killing her quick he would have done it there in the duct.

Sam's detector whined to life and Dean's heart hammered in his chest. In seconds he and Sam dropped the metal detectors, picked up their shovels and began to dig. About 4 feet down they found what they were looking for.

An iron manhole with the words Philadelphia Water Works on the top. This was it. It took all of his and Sam's combined strength to pull it open but they did. They grabbed their shot guns and Dean lead the decent into the darkness below and he prayed, to Rachel.

Rachel had been kicking at the brick wall for ever it seemed. She twisted this way and that, trying to find the best leverage to get the most power out of her legs but it was no use. She was very aware that she was kicking stone and mortar but her reasoning was that this "cell" or whatever it was, had to be old and therefore maybe weak.

She continued to try to find this weakness until she grunted with every kick, her breath came in pants and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering her and her hair plastered to her forhead. Her knees ached and her efforts were beginning to seem futile. She lay back in her cell, exhausted, her breath coming in pants. She thought of Sam and Dean trying to find her. It seemed they were the only hope she and Theresa had left. Now if only they could stay alive until they were found.

Footsteps again. Just one set so it definitely wasn't the brothers but Holmes himself again. Her heart began to race but she forced herself to stay calm.

She looked out of the window of her cell and saw the beast for the first time. He was hideous, dead eyes, scraggly beard, matted hair plastered to his head. He was vile in every sense of the word and she found her stomach doing a little flip looking at him that had nothing to do with fear.

"You're so pretty." He whispered. "So beautiful."

"Go to Hell!" She spat through clenched teeth.

He reached his head through the bars and caressed her shoulder, she was so disgusted she shimmed as far away from him as the small confined cell would let her get and turned her back to him, hoping to get beyond his reach.

He continued to fondle her shoulder then moved to her back. If she didn't love this jacket so much she thought she would burn it if she ever got out of here. NO! She wasn't going to let him touch her like this. She reached into her pocket and withdrew the small iron knife she'd pulled out of her shoe earlier and stored in the pocket of her jacket just in case she'd needed it.

She turned quickly and stabbed the horrible, violating hand that touched her. She was rewarded with a scream from the spirit and he quickly dissipated from the contact with the iron.

She lay back in relief and tried with all her might to will the Winchesters to hurry.

Dean crawled through the muck of the sewer with Sam doing the same right behind him. They were close. He felt it in his bones.

_Hang on Rachel. I'm on my way. _

Rachel lay there still, listening. Holmes was due to come back, it's had been roughly an hour since she'd stabbed him so he'd need a fix from one of them soon. And seeing that he now knew she was armed, it was probably Theresa he'd go after next.

"Think maybe he's gone for good? I bet you hurt him bad." Theresa said.

Of course, she'd think he was a real person. Demented ghost of a serial killer who dies nearly a century ago probably never crossed her mind.

"I don't know." Was all Rachel was able to say before Holmes grabbed her arm. She was taken by surprise and let out a shrill scream. He silenced her by reaching in with his other arm and clamping his hand down on her mouth.

She struggled with everything she had but she knew she was helpless. A spirit strong enough to make ectoplasm was solid enough to have the strength of a man that was alive. There was nothing she could do unless she was able to get to her knife again.

"Shhh." Holmes said and gripped her tighter.

She wasn't going to reach her knife. Not this time. It was over, he was going to kill her. She still struggled though and tried to scream under his hand but it was all just came out as whimpers. The fear that shot through her was horrible.

"Hey!" She heard a deep voice bellow.

She was so disoriented it didn't even register to her that help had found her until she heard the shot. The hands that held her dissipated and she was free once again.

She tried to wrap her brain around what had just happened when she heard her savior call her name.

"RACHEL?!"

Dean. It was Dean.

"I'm here!" She called.

She looked through the bars and his face came into view on the other side. The relief that washed over her at the sight of him was so overwhelming that tears actually sprang into her eyes.

"Hang on ok. I'm going to get you out of there." He assured her.

All she could do was nod.

He started to pry it open with something when she remembered her fellow prisoner.

"Theresa's alive in another cell. A little bit across the way I think but I can't be sure, we have to help her." She said.

"Sam's got her." Dean informed her. His voice straining as he put all his effort into prying the cell open.

_Thank God. _She thought.

The hinges finally gave way and the small door swung open. There was a loud metal "_clink_" as the crowbar Dean had used fell to the floor. He pulled the door open and offered chef his hand to help her climb out. She accepted it and he helped her to her feet.

Her legs were so shaky she collapsed when she tried to stand. Dean caught her and held her. She very much DID NOT want to play the damsel in distress but she was so happy he was here she allowed herself to fall into his arms.

"You're ok, I got ya." He almost cooed into her ear.

She couldn't help it; she clung to him and let his presence comfort her. She was safe now; he wouldn't let anything hurt her. She felt protected in his strong arms and for just a moment she let herself be more female then she ever did on a job.

But then the moment was over and she pulled away. The danger was still out there and she had to think of Theresa first now.

She glanced over and saw that she was also free of her prison, Sam had her in a child carry, she clung to his neck and had her face buried in his chest.

"Let's get the hell out of here before he comes back." Dean said.

Rachel knew they should go. But she also knew that what had to be required that they stay. As long as Holmes was out there the girls that lived in that building were in danger. They found his lair; they had to finish the job.

"No. We have to end this." She locked eyes with Dean and he knew immediately what she was asking.

"No." He stated. Stern as a drill sergeant. "No way. You're not going to be bait. Damn it Rachel he could have killed you before we got here. We'll find another way."

"Dean he's pissed at me. I stabbed him with my iron knife, he'll come for me if I'm down here and we can stop this right now." She argued.

"No, Rachel." Was all he said.

"Dean." Sam said. They both looked at him. "It's the only plan we got. I don't think we have much choice."

Rachel looked at Dean and saw him involuntarily soften. He was out numbered and he knew, as much as he protested, that this was their only shot.

So just like that, she had become bait for a dead serial killer.


End file.
